A Different Way
by Troypay 4 Life
Summary: How the Dan and Blair interaction should have gone when he got to the hospital after Serena's accident


_"Where is she? Is she alright? What happened?"_

_ "She overdosed in some cheap motel in Queens alone. Why didn't she come to me? I mean no matter how angry we were at each other she knows. I don't know what I would do if anything happened to her."_

Dan took in the sight before him. Blair was broken. She was sick with worry about her best friend, blaming herself for something that was completely out of her control. His mind momentarily became blank of any thoughts of Serena.

"Are you okay?"

"What?"

"Are you okay?"

"She's my best friend Humphrey." She snapped and then looked down at the floor, "No I'm not okay." He took a risk and reach out touching her elbow gently before rubbing it with his thumb.

"There's a back staircase. It's practically empty I used it to get up here quicker. Let's go sit for a minute." Blair hesitated for a moment before agreeing. She let him lead the way still holding on to her arm which she hated to admit had a calming effect on her. When they made it to rarely used set of stairs he motioned for them to sit.

"Humphrey I'm not sitting on that fl…" Before she could finish talking he had removed his jacket and laid it on the landing for her. Sitting down as gracefully as possible he followed suit and looked over at her.

"I'm sorry."

"What? What are you sorry for Humphrey?"

"That you're going through this. I know it has to be hard."

"You know you're the first person that's asked me how I'm doing." The Queen of the UES made eye contact with him. He simply shrugged his shoulders.

"You love Serena just as much as her family. Actually sometimes I think you love her more. You treat her better most of the time."

"Was that a compliment?"

"Yes."

"I thought these days were behind us. I thought she had cleaned up her act and wasn't going to do these things anymore. I honestly thought she had changed."

"Hey," His hand came to rest on her nearest shoulder, "we'll get through this I promise."

"We'll?"

"I'm not gonna let you go through this alone Blair."

"Why not? Everyone else would."

"I'm not everyone else."

"That's true Cabbage Patch." Her smile made him return one of his own and made his chest pound. Had she always been so beautiful? Had she always been so amazing? So pure? There were things about Blair Waldorf he'd never noticed before. Those doe eyes he'd once despised were now captivating. How had everyone including himself become obsessed with Serena when Blair was sitting right there, right in front of him? Moving his hand up he moved a strand of hair back so he could look more directly at her face. He was momentarily scared that she would move away remembering vaguely Nate telling him about her saying only her boyfriend touched her hair. A song he'd heard playing on the radio for the past week constantly, suddenly broke the both of them out of their trance and Blair opened her phone to read the text.

"She's awake." For the life of him he couldn't remember who she was in that moment. The only she he was thinking about was the one sitting with him right now. She rose first and waited for him to follow which he did. Grabbing his jacket off the ground he nodded toward the door and touched her lower back signaling for her to go first.

"Can we see her?" The brunette asked approaching the Van der Woodsen family

"She…she doesn't want to see you." Lily informed her

"What?" Blair's voice broke and her shoulders fell

"She said she doesn't want to see you right now. Dan, Serena said you could come in." He looked over at Blair only to see her back as she headed toward the elevator. His eyes returned to Lily and his father, glancing over their shoulders in Serena's direction and then back to where Blair had just left his side.

"I…I'm sorry. I can't. I gotta go." The Brooklyn native turned and ran down the stairs where he and Blair had just been. Running wasn't as fast as an elevator but jumping staircases did help cut down on time. Finally reaching the exit Dan glanced from side to side trying to catch a glimpse of the brunette he was chasing. Seeing a dress that was an exact match to the one Blair was wearing earlier he dashed to the woman. He heard her crying and knew he'd found the right person.

"Blair."

"Dan?" Raising her head from her hands she looked at him with tear filled eyes. He nodded his head in response and took the first calm breath he'd had since he began running.

"Yeah."

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Serena?"

"Serena's fine. My dad, Lily, and Eric are all there with her. Are you okay?"

"How could she do that?"

"I don't know."

"She's my best friend Humphrey, my sister. I would never make her feel like this."

"I know."

"You never answered my question."

"What question?"

"What are you doing here?"

"I was worried about you."

"I don't understand you Humphrey. I mean one minute you're head over heels for Serena, then Vanessa and now…"

"Now…now I know what I should have realized a long time ago."

"What?" Reaching up he rubbed a rough hand against her porcelain cheek.

"You always pull the pigtails of the girl you like on the playground." She began to laugh through her sobs and the tears continued to fall.

"I don't want to come second to Serena."

"I promise you, you will never come second. You come first from here on out." He wiped away the tears falling down her face. Too emotional to speak Blair brought him into an embrace. Pulling back he put his jacket around her shaking shoulders. He kissed her forehead before taking her hand and leading her toward the car waiting on her out front.


End file.
